


The bard

by katnor



Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Modern Character in Middle Earth, Music, Rebirth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2018-09-10 23:08:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8943187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katnor/pseuds/katnor
Summary: Gildor and his company come across a peculiar human in their travels, and decide to bring him to Rivendell.





	

”My lord Elrond! We have visitors!” Lindir sounded slightly breathless, as if he had been, not running, that would be undignified, but hurrying back to the house. Elrond turned around and raised an eyebrow. Young Lindir tended to be a bit excitable at times, but for him to behave like this – it had to be very special visitors. 

Lindir stopped right in front of him, bowed perfunctorily and continued: ”It’s Gildor and his company! They brought a mortal along!” At this point, Elrond’s famous eyebrow had all but disappeared into his hairline. Gildor and his wandering company came by regularly, by elven standards, but not often enough that anyone grew blasé about it. The few mortals staying at Imladris saw the company perhaps once or twice during a lifetime. For Gildor to be back already, just a dozen years since the last visit, was unheard of. 

Gildor Inglorion himself came striding up the gentle slope towards the house but minutes later. His coppery hair was braided back in a style that Elrond recognised, with a pang of nostalgia, from his childhood. He came forward and bowed in the elvish way, placing a hand over his heart, and smiled at Elrond. ”It is good to see you, lord Elrond”, he said warmly. ”I know it has only been a few years, but we found something, or rather someone, in our travels, that we felt you ought to meet. His story is a very interesting one. Not to mention he sings the most captivating songs.”

The rest of Gildor’s company had by now entered the courtyard, and were milling about, chatting with some of the residents of Imladris, who had turned out by the dozen once they heard about the new arrivals. Gildor turned away from Elrond and called out: ”Len! Come here and meet the Lord of Imladris!” 

A short, dark-haired mortal detached himself from the crowd and ambled over to Gildor and Elrond. He smiled up at the much taller Elven lord and bowed in the elven fashion. ”Pleased to meet you, lord Elrond” he said in a low, melodious voice, surprisingly deep for such a small person. 

Elrond bowed back with a quick smile. ”Gildor tells me you have quite a story to tell. Would you care to join me and some of my advisors for tea in my suite after refreshing yourself a little after your travels?” 

”I would be delighted, my lord. Young Gildor here tells me you are very wise and have insight into a great many things. It would be interesting to see what you make of my tale.” 

Elrond raised both eyebrows this time. He had not heard anyone refer to Gildor as ”young” since the Second Age. The copper-haired elf just grinned and clapped the mortal on his back, saying: ”I can show you to the guest rooms, Len. The public baths are not far away, I think it might be good to make use of those.” 

”So in not so many words, you are saying I smell”, the short man teased. 

”Everyone smells”, Gildor corrected. ”Come on, the sooner we bathe and change clothes, the sooner we get something to eat.” Elrond gazed at their retreating backs, feeling like there was something he was missing. He shrugged and determined to get the whole story at teatime.

Some time later, Erestor, Lindir, Glorfindel and Elrond had gathered in the lord’s suite, where tea was being served. There was a brief knock on the door, and Gildor and his short mortal companion entered, looking much refreshed and wearing clean clothes. They both took seats, and introductions were made all around. The dark-haired man looked slightly overwhelmed after learning all their names. He kept shaking his head quietly, but said nothing aloud. ”Now then”, began Elrond. ”I believe I was promised a tale?” 

Gildor nodded. ”I can start with the part I know”, he said. ”We were travelling through Eregion, when something happened one night. Well after dark, there was a strange light in the skies, and when we sent out two scouts to investigate, they found Len. He was dressed rather oddly, carrying a musical instrument none of us recognised, and had no idea how he had come to be there. Indeed, he had no idea what or where Eregion was, and kept asking for a ’Loes Anglis’.” 

”Los Angeles”, the mortal corrected gently. ”That is where I was when...” He hesitated and gave Gildor a look, and the elf nodded encouragingly. 

”Well. This is a little difficult for me. I told Gildor and his boys of course... and they believed me, after asking a few pointed questions.” He sighed and looked down at his teacup, as if trying to find the right words inside it. ”You see... I am not from this world. I lived in a very different one, where there were no elves, dwarves or orcs, just humans, even though they sometimes behaved like orcs. This world, and you all, were just fantasy. We knew about Middle-earth, because there was a learned man who wrote about it, and you, in books, but... no one knew it was real, it was believed to be a work of fiction.” 

Erestor raised his eyebrows. ”No elves?” 

”None that I know of. I am not sure whether your world and mine are the same, only in different time-lines, or if they are separate. My world is very technologically advanced, that is, we use machines and man-made contraptions for a lot of things. We fight wars at a distance... but we still fight.” He looked at them sadly.

”But you speak the same language we do”, Glorfindel remarked. ”How is that possible?” 

”I really have no idea. To my ears, you are all speaking English, which is the language I grew up speaking. Gildor tells me that which you speak is called Westron, and unless Westron and English are actually the same...” He shrugged helplessly. ”I do not speak Sindarin, though, at least not yet, but I wish to learn it if I may.” 

”Of course”, Elrond smiled, ”we are not as jealous and secretive about our language as are the dwarves.” 

”So you are not from our world, or at least not from this time”, Lindir summarised. ”How did you come to be here then?” 

”This is where it gets weird, I mean strange. I died. I was already an old man at the time, and I was ill. I died in my sleep, I think, and I seemed to see some kind of light, and there was singing. The song sounded very familiar, but I can no longer recall it. The next thing I knew, I was thrown to the ground, and that was where Gildor’s scouts found me.” 

The Rivendell elves looked at each other, then at the small mortal, who endured their scrutiny with an embarrassed look on his face. ”Dead?” Erestor sounded slightly skeptical. 

Len nodded quietly. ”As a doornail. Uh, I mean, very much so, yes. I was, after all, an old man, and the illness was terminal. I was not going to get better, and I knew it.” He gave a sudden, short laugh. ”I was a firm believer in reincarnation, but I never thought to experience it like this.” 

”Are you saying you were reborn? Or rather re-housed, the way our kind is?” Lindir sounded shocked. 

”I am not sure how elves’ are reborn”, Len said. ”But I found myself in my human body, only instead of it being eighty-two years old, it was the body I inhabited around the age of thirty.” 

”This is... something that will need some thought”, Elrond offered quietly. ”There are several questions here that need to be addressed. How did you come here, and why? Is there a purpose to your presence? And, begging your pardon master Len, but how much do you know about our world? Is it possible you know things about our future?” 

At this, the mortal paled, then blushed and nodded. ”I think I can answer that question at least”, he said. ”I know of future events – but I am fairly sure I can tell no one. It might interfere with things that need to happen, and if I do something to mess this up, uh, I mean...” He trailed off uncertainly. 

Erestor nodded decisively. ”This actually makes much sense”, he offered. 

”And it seems you have given this some thought. Very well, I agree it may be best not to divulge too much, if anything, of your knowledge. Although I wish to have a private talk with you at some later point”, Elrond said. 

Gildor grinned at the dark-haired mortal. ”It seems you have found yourself a new home, Len.” 

”I would be quite happy to settle here, if it is possible. No offense, Gildor, but constantly being on the road gets old rather fast.” He bowed again in the elven fashion, and left, closing the door quietly behind him. 

Gildor looked at the other four with a raised eyebrow. ”What? I like the man. He is kind, intelligent, and as I said before, he sings the most captivating songs, his own compositions for the most part. You may have gained a rival for the title of Chief Bard, Lindir!” 

The brown-haired elf smiled and remarked: ”He is still a mortal. No matter how fine a bard he is.” 

”Oh, but wait until you hear him! It is really most remarkable!” 

They went back to their tea, chatting quietly for a while, until Gildor shot to his feet. ”Listen, there he goes now! That is our Len playing and singing outside! Just listen to him!” They heard the sound of someone strumming an instrument, and then a deep, velvety voice that went right to the heart of everyone within hearing distance:

_Now I've heard there was a secret chord_  
_That David played, and it pleased the Lord_  
_But you don't really care for music, do you?_

**Author's Note:**

> I had this dream, that my favourite bard might end up in my favourite universe. This is what came of it.


End file.
